How to Combat Imposter Syndrome

Imposter syndrome is a phenomenon that occurs when you personally feel that you don’t belong in a certain environment or that your recent successes are mere luck. It’s like a fever dream. You were doing something you enjoyed and along the way you gained fame or money in massive amounts. Any normal person that comes into this world is never prepared. I don’t think there is any way to, per se, prepare for anything in large quantities. But as I continue to work and put out good work or do projects for others and see the positive feedback, I tend to think how would I keep it up. Can I keep it up? Imposter syndrome is like being an actor in your real life. Like that Twilight Zone episode where the guy was alone in the world, but was being watched by the government; life doesn’t fully seem real. Today, we dive into those feelings and how we can combat that as we continue to strive for our goals. 

Feeling Less than Adequate

Andy Frisella, the CEO and Co-founder of 1st Phorm said, “If someone is working to be a high achiever they will never feel like they are doing enough.” This is a great comparative thought to  imposter syndrome. When you start to put work into your dreams they become goals you can see yourself achieving. The bigger the goal you can dream, naturally the less confident you feel in reaching that level. Consequently, as you make strides and hit milestones, you begin to feel good about yourself. Yet there is this feeling that you still aren’t “good enough”. I find myself questioning whether my path is for me, despite the efforts exuded to make stuff people like. The first step in this battle with imposter syndrome is understanding that you are adequate and the efforts you put into doing anything are important and they more than matter. Self-belief is a big aspect to achieving anything. There will be enough people who don't believe in your abilities, your added self-doubt only feeds into their negativity. My joy for writing and putting words to paper led to my belief that I could be a writer and actually embark on that journey. Despite my belief, I felt inadequate considering, with any creative endeavor, there is the thought that people won’t care or dislike what you have to say. So when I got great reviews when I first started of course I was excited but I also felt the weight of understanding that I had to continue to produce. I knew I could write well but the idea of creating something new was daunting. In this head space I had to understand that…

Doing Loads of work

I could prove to myself that I deserved it because I was going to keep producing even if people don’t like or even see what I had to say. Becoming great at anything requires more work than others are willing to put in. I could be a good writer my whole life. Write some blogs, journal here and there and be content in life. This would allow me to be a good writer and that be all. If you're reading this, it’s my assumption that you aren’t someone content with “good”. Greatness is followed by notoriety, but before that, high volumes of effort and time was spent. It’s said that it takes 10,000 hours to master anything. Now let me ask you this. If you put a year plus worth of work into your thing, do you think you would feel like you don’t deserve all the greatness that follows that? How long are you willing to work and improve your craft to be considered a master? The necessary repetitions are the combatting force against that feeling of inadequacy. No one can take away the knowledge you gained or the skills you learned from the hours you spent perfecting your craft. Your confidence would be crystallized and emphasized through the consistent great work you do. Put in the hours and…

Fear of Trying

Never be afraid to try. Try new things you see, try old things people don’t do anymore, try a risky move that could make people look at you crazy. Society itself is weird. People make fun of others for trying anything. People film themselves going to the store and get clowned in the comments. Those same people end up getting brand deals, and all the commenters are still just commenters. Life would be very mundane if you never try anything new or risky. Even the thing you love would become boring if you don’t challenge yourself every once in a while. The uncertainty of trying something new can be daunting and that feeling sucks. A better feeling is trying something so scary and it comes out perfectly. You realize you now have a new facet to explore in your craft, reviving the enjoyment you felt in the beginning. Don’t run from fear. Rather chase the excitement that is a new venture within your venture. It’s like inception, but this inception combats imposter syndrome… 

Conclusion

You are the main character of your life. Don’t allow yourself to play a side character because of a feeling of not belonging. Imposter syndrome will lose the battle every time when you add self-belief to the work that you do in what you love. Stepping into new rooms and opening doors can be intimidating. You now have a quick framework to run through that can help mitigate the feeling of inadequacy you feel. Know that you have what it takes because the moment you step in those rooms, you are already meant to be there. 

-J